Ludmila's Broken English:

by D.B.C. Pierre

Book Overview

A wild and brilliant tale by the winner of the Man Booker Prize and one of our most original storytellers. On a Tuesday in terror-struck London, Blair and Bunny Heath become the first adult conjoined... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393062376
• ISBN13: 9780393062373
• Release Date: May 2006
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.9" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

Amazing writer--unique voice!

I first heard of this writer when I picked up an intriguingly titled anthology in the remainders section at a real bookstore (unbelievable!),called The Revolution Will Be Accessorized. Therein was an essay about his trip to the Caucasus Mountains, and it just thrilled me, the way it was written. So I ordered a couple of his books, the Booker Prize winner, Vernon God Little, and Ludmila's Broken English, which turns out to be the book he was researching when he wrote the essay. It took me a while to get into it, because it starts out in England, but if you stay with it, it's an intense experience, and an extremely insightful look at the diverse way humans behave when confronted with similar circumstances. Also, the curious way the characters spoke to one another made me laugh out loud in places, as well as annoy the hell out of my husband by reading him the "funny parts"!

Earn your amusements

It's clever. It made me laugh. The bloodbath at the end was really uncalled for, nevertheless this book was enjoyable, stimulating and truly bizarre. Ludmila is an inspiration. She survives the decay and abuse of a rural former Soviet Republic that is teetering on insanity. Dirty But Clean Pierre knows of what he writes. He was there. It was much worse than he describes. Trivia buffs can identify characters who represent evey single Prime Minister of England. How's that for fun? Literary snobs, get a life!

A Wild and Unique Ride

This was not an easy book. The language switches from an abrasive argot that one could imagine has evolved between a pair of British twins who had been conjoined for 33 years, to what feels like a word-for-word translation ("What color goose do you think I am?") of the constant bickering among destitute farmers in some god-forsaken former Soviet republic. Meanwhile, I was calling my friends on the phone to read them some of the most brilliant descriptive passages I have ever encountered. As the characters battled desperately against their bizarre tragedies, it was only some sense of political correctness that kept me from laughing at them. When the book reached its horrifying and beautifully wrought climax, I ultimately let loose and treated it as a comedy of the blackest variety. DBC Pierre finally reveals hand in a highly satisfying ending to a story that only he could have brought together.

DBC Pierre is out of his mind

and I want more! I picked up VGL while connecting at Heathrow and read it non-stop to San Francisco...I loved it. I just recieved LBE as a gift and although I'm only a third the way through it I find it very hard to put down. The twins banter is hysterically witty and has me laughing out loud while my poor wife tries to sleep. Not quite five stars but I will read _anything_ DBC writes. More!

DBC Does It Again

Sharply honed characters, sublime language, cracking dialogue and a manic sense of humour make this one, like Vernon God Little before it, an instant classic. This story has a hook that drags the reader from the foggy claustrophobia of post-WOT (War on Terror) London to the frozen wasteland of the post-USSR Caucasus. Conjoined twins Blair and Bunny, literally cut loose from each other and their English sanitarium, are released blinking into the new world. Meanwhile smart, sexy, acid tongued Ludmila plans her own escape from poverty and war. Can internet dating bring them all together? And save them? DBC Pierre strikes again.